A Geological Report On The Music of Boney M.

When one thinks of the 1970's harmony supergroup Boney M, one generally thinks of peppy, upbeat disco music. However, lyrically the band who sang such hits as 'Daddy Cool', 'Rasputin' and 'Painter Man' also displayed a remarkble propensity for geology. For example:

"Sunny", arguably the band's biggest hit, is quite specific in this regard. The lyric couplet 'My life was tossed like the wind-blown sand/and the rock was formed when you held my hand' can refer to nothing less than the formation of basalt through surface vulcanisation. I say basalt only with the caveat that the song does not specifically mention pressure of any kind being applied during the process of vitrification, which would result in the formation of crystalline or crypto-crystalline substances being formed (dependant upon the pressures involved and the time period allowed for the process overall). It is also possible where vulcanisation is concerned that the rock may have been pumice, this being the aereated form of basalt.

"Brown Girl In The Ring" does not specifically mention any types of rock but rather a geologic process. The line "cuttin' a way to wash my clothes" may refer to either the forces of glaciation or erosion on soils and substrates, in this case specifically to form a river valley or bed suitable for use as a primitive laundry facilty.

"Rasputin", nominally about the Mad Monk of Czarist Russia, contains the lyric "he wanted Russian land but never mind the Czar/but the Kozakchak he was really wunderbar" clearly refers to the desire for the acquisition in the early 1900s of large tracts of Russian real estate. This would have been an astute move for Rasputin geologically, as the initial years of the 20th century saw some of the richest mining activity in Russia's history. Alexandrite (the Russian national stone named after the Czar himself) was being mined in the Ural Mountains, and several kimberlite formations were discovered in Sibera (home to the Kozakchak) which would go on to yield 1/3 of the world's total diamond production.